ELECTRONICS, ELECTRICS, APPLIANCES (non kitchen)

www.Ihomeaudio.com
Ihome Triple Charing FM Clock Radio Stereo System Model iDL100
What can you say about something that does and has it all? This neat, little radio wakes me up, lulls me to sleep, charges my Ipad, Iphone and Iphone (at the same time if I like or need to), has convenient presets for the radio, automatically changes to daylights’ saving timing with one little toggle, has dimmer lights on the clock time and even can use a USB port for my music.
Ihome consistently comes out with great designs for all your Apple products, with affordable prices and all the online support you need. A super gift –especially for Mother’s (and Father’s Day).

Ihome Wireless Rechargeable Speaker DuskThis nifty, compact little ball is a ball of joy (and music). It offers wireless, Bluetooth connectivity so you can tote your music around or enjoy finger-tip volume control if you are listening to music, Netflix, meditation sounds – you don’t have to fiddle with your computer. Instead, you can use the Dusk – far more convenient. It is simply plug (it into your computer) and it plays. A suction bottom also ensures it doesn’t slide around.www.IhomeAudio.com

What do we all want (and maybe didn’t know it)? A compact, affordable, easy-to-use and effective touch keyboard for our Ipads and Mini-Ipads. The future, as they say, is here. www.Touchfire.com is a case and keyboard for your device. The transparent keyboard attaches magnetically and instantly latches on a responsive, 3-D type pad to your on-screen keyboard. Offering you a few angles to work from, suddenly, your Ipad becomes a mini-laptop, offering that satisfying touch/feel action that makes a keyboard so desirable. Thin and light, the keyboard packs up into its own convenient case. It beats a Bluetooth in that there’s no cables, no charging and that means no dropped connections (via a Bluetooth keyboard) or battery drain.

Visit www.touchfire.com/start for the video and to order. A perfect gift for anyone but especially for someone on the go that wants a ‘click’ keyboard without any fuss and/or looking to extend the use of their Ipad.

http://www.ihomeaudio.com/
Wireless Speaker
One of our favourite companies for consumer electronics is www.IhomeAudio.com.
We recently gave their wireless speaker a go and talk about great first impressions....great second and third impressions. Ihome's wireless speaker entry is a sleek animal that installs in seconds and suddenly you have amazing sound - from your computer, Iphone, Ipad - along with remote control of course. The unit is small but powerful and lets you have sound wherever you want it without wires or complex installation. At $299 it's a steal.
It plays long and then of course, you simply recharge.

We also tried out the Ihome Studio Monitor Headphones - They are designed similarly to the trend headphones but at a fraction the price - plus they are comfortable and offer a handy in-line volume control.

Last - is the Ihome clock radio Ipad/Iphone charger. Each year, Ihome comes out with a myriad of designs that are radio, chargers, clocks, and Iphone/Ipad players all-in-one. Not only are they price point competitive, there are so many styles and colours to choose from(and again, great prices) it's no wonderwww IphoneAudio.com is a top contender in this electronic venue.

www.LogiTech.com
New mice and keyboards releases the artist in you because they're designed by artists....
A sample from The Logitech Urban Graffiti Collection.

No more boring mice. No more boring keyboards. No more exclusively 'guy', utilitarian electronics -which is good news for creatives, especially those of us writers (and bakers, musicians, poets, photographers) who are of the female persuasion. Logitech has introduced a whole slew of colourful mice and some mice-matching-keyboards that turn your work-a-day office into a playground. Choose from an array of urban 'mice' art. Aside from the pretty colours and patterns, the real magic is that these are the fastest mice and keyboards around. The duo of mice and keyboard literally whiz through your assignments (or Facebook life) so you have speed, accuracy and pretty-as-a-picture peripheries. Plus these are wireless mouse that work like wired ones (no glitches, no false steps) and the battery life is a year. Why shouldn't every part of your life, even the mundane things you don't think about (a mouse?) not be as pretty and artsy as everything else. Just knowing art is behind the electronics adds a great vibe. Available online at www.logitech.com or Best Buy, Amazon, etc.

www.Dyson.ca
Dyson DC31 is an animal in all respects - It's hearty, hefty on power, pure suckage and performs like a brute. We've all had spills and overflows in the kitchen (or livingroom, stairway, car, workshop) and gotten frustrated with the usual 'dust busters'. Now we're busting the truth about those duster buster myths : they don't work. (I've tried them all - haven't you?). This Dyson space-age looking hand-held vacuum from is pure gold. You can see the dust and dirt being gobbled up and aside from that being totally satisfying, you also know when it's time to dump (and there's no filter to replace) the fur-ball, flour and dusty load in the trash can. The attachments click off and on easily and each head option offers just the right style tool, along with Dyson legendary power, to be totally effective. Rechargable - it also lasts a long time without being plugged in. It's super for kitchen but is just the unit for stairs, corners and little areas you don't want to take a big unit out to deal with. The trigger mechanism is kinda neat too -it's like a vacuum 'weapon' in all respects.www.Dyson.ca -Buy one for you and one as the perfect wedding gift or first apartment must-have.

When it comes to earphones and headphones (different categories although both auditory), I am a fusspot. For exercise or yoga at home, or outdoor jogging, I need something that delivers great sound, has an in-line volume control (you cannot possible fiddle with stuff while doing downward dog pose or running over hill and dale), something that stays put (run over cords and lose the ear buds? No thanks), and something waterproof (for outdoor running and/or sweat resistant for heavy duty indoor workouts). I hate compromising looks for sound quality or sound quality for that oh-so-important in-line volume control thing and I need something sleek. That is why I am thrilled to have discovered quality earphones from no other than Sennheiser, the Sennheiser Adidas Sport CS680.

In edgy black and yellow with the Adidas logo on it (giving it a neat retro feel), these are lightweight but durable and saw me through running and yoga without a hitch. They also did double duty as my headset for my Ipod, Iphone and Pandigital “Novel’ (www.Pandigital.com, an incredible tablet that does just about everything). The CS680’s also have an option of a short cord or longer one that wraps around your arm. And how could I forget? This great set also blocks out a fair bit of ambient noise (especially indoors) while outdoors, I found they screened out a fair bit of noise but left me still auditorarily aware of other runners and sounds of cars or bikes nearby.

Sennheiser headphones PXC 450

So much is written about the option of noise-reduction or noise control in headphones, that in finding a product that provides that, consumers often have to make do with lesser sound quality. Nothing is further from this case scenario than the aware-winning Sennheiser Headphones PXC450. These phenomenal headphones from Sennheiser are winning raves from the audio industry and emerging as a best buy, dollar for sound quality and noise filtering from consumers, with a variety of sound needs and applications.

These state-of-the-art headphones would be the choice if you want great sound, great styling, noise cancelling but acutely greatly sound – it’s for audiophiles, home-studio composers, frequent plane
Want base without cloudiness? This is the headset to choose?Want close, quiet comfort without your ears getting irritated, a soft landing, so to speak? This is the ticket. Want the option of ‘no noise reduction’? Just in case you don’t want to miss any outer audio cues in your life? Then you have that option to change the setting and the PXC 450 become ‘regular’ headphones. Another perk? When noise reduction option is being use, a Talk Through button can be pressed and the music or audio material you are listening to mutes and you can hear a conversation, answer a doorbell or land line phone, easily tuning back in and out to your audio/inner world and the world going on around you. Almost every review you read is also scoring these higher than Bose.

For the price, these are almost three headsets in one: they are champions at noise reduction/cancelling, excel as sound-delivery on their own, give you the option of being enwrapped in your audio world, deliver precise audio quality for the most delicate string quartet and then come back, loud, strong and clear (vs. a rumble-y cloud) for your favorite rap music. Or just put them on, head for your hammock or yoga matt, light some incense and disappear in a Sennheiser sounds-true, perfect world. www.Sennheiser.com

www.Microsoft.com

Microsoft is the gold standard for PC's but even for Macs. We recently gave the new Office for Mac a test drive. It's packed with improvements (with the good stuff retained) but the first thing you notice is that in Word, you don't need to resize the page - there is all is - full page to work on.

Retro Done Right - the Big Ben "Moon Beam' Alarm Clock

Designed in 1950, this beautiful little alarm clock is a keeper. L.L. Bean is the best source of supply for a charming clock that comes in the original mellow yellow, green, blue or pink (I have 3 of the four colours, I like the clock so much). It runs on batteries or plug but when plugged in, the clock offers a warm, cozy lit glow at night time. It wakes you with a blinking light which segues to a bell alarm. L.L. Bean also sells the other classic Big Ben alarm clock but this is a fav in bedrooms or home offices. Moon Beam Alarm Clock, Model 43006 from L.L. Bean, www.llbean.com

One of the nicest of Ipod/Fm/AM radios from www.IHome.com, this has all the bells and whistles you could possibly want. It is so simple to use and so stylist, you will probably buy it just so you have an excuse to buy an Ipod (and almost any model fits this unit, it comes with adapters to ensure your Ipod, regardless of vintage will fit in the port)
Listen to am or fm, or your own Ipod playlists, and wake up to the music of your choosing and planning. See the complete line at www.Ihome.com.

Now Featuring the best from Rebit: the Rebit 5 - worry free backup - still ridicuously simple.
Imagine the future: you plug it in, you walk away and forget about it . How about: the future is now, at least sin the Rebit world. Yes, your entire computer is automatically, continuously backed up. No expertise, no downloads, no set up. The Rebit brags that it is ‘ridiculously simple’ and it is. Totally configuration free. If you can turn on a light switch, you can use the Rebit. The company (which recently aligned with famed Seagate who does great things with memory back up gizmos) comes in a few size/capacities and offers an external hard drive that is also portable. So it backs up things at the home office and if you travel, just tuck it in the neat black case it comes with and feel safe and secure. What’s amazing about Rebit is that it is quietly smart – backing up any time a file is worked on or accidentally deleted – it knows to back it up. You can even have your entire PC crash and use the Rebit to restore it to a minute before crash. Rebit offers back ups in a few sizes and is uniquely for PC’s. This is the most human and helpful little system I know (any writer or publisher should buy stock in this company) and the sense of security it provides is awesome. As it says on the box, Rebit starts saving everything you need once you plug it in. http://www.rebit.com/

Rebit 5 Portable Hard Drive
The Rebit 5 portable hard drive is sleek, powerful and an essential for any home office.Available with a massive 500GB storage, this external hard drive is great for backing up your files or just some extra space to free up your computer.Upon unboxing the drive the first very noticeable plus was the diminutive packs quite a processing punch with speed and reliability that would rival any competitors. Bottom line this Rebit 500GB Hard Drive has great performance, ridiculously easy and reliable to use, a great price, and is all in all a no-decision great buy! Recommended*******

Sony offers a few digital electronic readers that are sweeping the publishing community (Random House bought one for all their editors) and is quickly winning reading fans everywhere. You can browse books at a click; it's light, fun, compact - the perfect commute or travel unlimited 'book shelf' (it holds over 150 books). The Reader Digital Book eBook reader features E Ink technology & a revolutionary paper-like display with supplied soft, leather-like cover. Some models also offer a neat reading light. You can also listen to music, browse photos. There's a handy bookmark your place option or you can jump right into another book. You can also get your Reader Digital Book EBook engraved (or if giving this as a special gift, engrave it for the recipient) which makes it a great Mother's Day, Father's Day, or convocation gift. If you love books, this won't replace them; it enhances and extends your library and makes it portable. In my case, I leave my print books at home (e.g. a heavy print, hardback edition of Pride and Prejudice best suited to my night table) and buzz around town with my Sony Digital Reader Jane's Austen collection. The Sony Library has amazing deals and selections and is newly partnered with Google Books to offer even more. Visit www.Sony.ca or a Sony Store to see a full product demonstration and find the model that best suits your needs.

I like things neat, simple, functional, and dedicated in function. These days there are myriad ways to watch your favorite movies and DVD sets of TV shows –computer, cell phone, TV or, a portable, personal DVD player. The last, a portable DVD player, given the options and the tricks and whistles they all have is an odd category of product. But for me, nothing beats the convenience and nothing (having tried a few brands) beats the Philips portable DVD collection viewable at

Electric Fireplaces

www.Dimplex.comI found this company when the trend in electric fireplaces was just beginning. Dimplex offers a full range of Franklin styled heater/fireplaces and beautiful, oak, walnut and other wood fireplaces, which feature a fireplace insert (which looks like logs glowing away) and a fireplace mantle. You need to purchase one each. They offer corner pieces as well as traditional fireplaces for a flat wall. The Franklin models are cute and offer style along with heat. The larger fireplace units, Electroflame (which includes a few lines and styles within that range) are incredibly riveting. They instantly, transform a room into a totally different ambience that is totally warm, inviting, and upgrades the room in seconds without any sort of renovation. But there are other reasons to purchase a Dimplex. For one, they offer heat at about 3cents an hour - that is a bargain. The fireplaces offer enough heat to keep a large room warm, without adding much to your central heating bill. Two, you can use the fireplaces just as ambience (with the fireplace aglow) OR, with the heater AND glow. I use the fireplace without the heat during the day and then turn on the heater switch in the evenings. No – this is not quite the same as a real wood fireplace (but you can use Wood Smoke incense from Nur for the aroma) but the cost is affordable, there is no construction needed (you assemble it in minutes and then just plug it in; the units are also wonderfully mobile – you can switch them from room to room), and there is no concern about fire safety.

Emergency Red Hand Crank Radio and Quality Fm Am PortablesEton! Something for the Storm (and power failure), your Ipod or Satellite Radiowww.EtonCorp.com If you really love someone gift them with an emergency radio. This hand crank (but it also works on batteries) FR400 Eton Radio is just what you want in the car (just in case) but more so, in the house when the power goes off and you want to know how much longer until the electrical outage is done! It runs on a rechargeable battery (that comes with the radio, you just crank the radio to recharge the battery) but a few cranks and you have a couple of hours of power and connection to the outside world. Alternatively, it also uses a back up of 3AA Batteries (in case you get tired of cranking). It also picks up TV (audio) and comes with a handy, on-radio flashlight. It is one nifty helpful product. I store mine with the candles and matches and just feel secure knowing I have emergency power with an eco-consciousness to it.